Coping With A Changing Climate

A recent report issued by the UN Development Program, the Global Environmental Facility and the Government of Australia, evaluating the preparedness of Sri Lanka to deal with Climate Change pointed out the a lack of “awareness about climate change impacts on the livelihood among farmers and local government officials, especially those engaged in water management and agriculture extension”. This is not the first warning; we have had plenty of time to deal with this need. An article titled; Climate Change’ published in 2011 asked of the outcome of the Durban meeting that our climate change experts went to:

“While awaiting to hear of the brilliant contributions that Sri Lanka has made to the just concluded United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), conference in Durban, the view from Durban is somewhat clouded. The global polluters are demonstrating extreme disdain of accepting any responsibility they have to the rest of humanity who share a common atmosphere with them. The unilateral move by Canada in withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol, a move endorsed by the fossil energy industry, demonstrates how much public interest has been eroded from political enclaves.

The UNFCC itself is a lame duck, it is still unable to recognize or identify the difference in value of carbon originating from biotic sources and fossil sources. This fact is commonsense; that while a diamond, petroleum, a lump of coal, piece of wood or piece of fruit is comprised of carbon, they are not the same, and they have different values. So in burning them up we have to recognize the value (cost) of each. The carbon dioxide that emanates from them by burning is also different. The carbon dioxide from biotic carbon will always have the carbon isotope C14, while carbon dioxide from fossil carbon will never contain C14. In time, the differences are in millions of years. This much is common knowledge, most high school children are already aware of these facts. Then why has the UNFCC chosen not to ‘see’ that there is a value and temporal difference between biotic and fossil carbon cycles? A cynic might say that many are in the pay of the energy industry. But, what about our Sri Lankan scientists who attended Durban? Surely they will never sell out to the energy industry! Perhaps they have already identified these fundamental structural flaws within the UNFCC and we might see this stand reflected in their reports.

In the meanwhile, apart from the innumerable conferences and workshops that we could have, what should we do in Sri Lanka? This question has come sharply into focus with the news that Russian scientists have discovered hundreds of plumes of methane gas, some over 1,000 meters in diameter, bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean. Methane is about 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Dr.Igor Semiletov of the Russian Academy of Sciences stated in a recent interview “ Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of meters in diameter. This is the first time that we’ve found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 meters in diameter. It’s amazing.”

All this points to the need for immediate action. Landscapes are slow to respond to rapid changes. The effect of the increase in storm force was apparent all last year. By now we should have had some national adaptation strategies. Yes, there has been a plethora of conferences around the subject, but what do I do if my drinking water runs out? What do I do if there is salt intrusion into my field? How do I deal with sudden windstorms? If the years spent on discussing adaptation had borne any fruit, we would now be seeing public education programs on climate change preparedness by now. “

Sadly, today, in 2016 we have the UNDP stating that in Sri Lanka there is a lack of “awareness about climate change impacts on the livelihood among farmers and local government officials, especially those engaged in water management and agriculture extension”

It is now patently clear that we will face a scarcity of food as the global temperatures rise. Chlorophyll, the primary material of life begins to denature as the 39degree threshold is passed. We are already witnessing 40 degree plus temperatures in many nations with the probability of exposure times increasing (fig 1). Should we not have been conducting tests on heat resistant crops or adaptive landscapes ?

Compounding the hypocrisy that is being foisted on us. There is the spectacle of Sri Lanka signing the Paris Accord to keep global temperatures under control by limiting out carbon output while gleefully promoting the construction of mega cities with no concern of their carbon footprint. When we consider that for every ton of concrete we emit 800 kgs of CO2 and every ton of steel is responsible for 1.2 tons of CO2, who has reported on the increase in CO2 emissions by this giant city building exercise? If the climate change secretariat has failed to account for both the construction and operational CO2 costs of construction in Sri Lanka, we would be cheating in our international obligations.

The impact of climate change is serious, there is a universal need to be educated and prepare for the consequences. We have been very delinquent in this regard as stated by the UNDP study. Hiding our heads in the sand will not make the problem go away. Increasing our carbon footprint in the name of ‘economic development’ is certainly an act of shooting ourselves in the foot and increasing the impact of climate change!

Source : 30th October 2016; Colombo Telegraph  https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/coping-with-a-changing-climate/

Sri Lanka Advocates Climate Change Mitigation Through Humane Lifestyle

At present, climate change has become one of the major challenges faced by mankind. In view of the adverse impacts of climate change, cuts in global emission levels are considered to be an imperative and immediate need. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has noted that livestock supply chains, the meat production industry in particular, are among the most significant contributors to climate change with emissions estimated at 7.1 gigatonnes CO2-eq per annum, representing 14.5 percent of human-induced GHG emissions. In addition, animal agriculture also results in more dire consequences as seen in the deforestation for grazing purposes, the loss of biodiversity, and pollution of water sources due to animal waste disposal.

Mitigation efforts should therefore take into account the greenhouse gas emissions of the livestock industry. As such, the campaign for meatless food consumption has significant implications as an ecologically conscious, alternative lifestyle pattern. It is clear from the facts that a sizeable reduction in terms of daily meat consumption would contribute immensely towards reductions in emission and in country’s reaching their emission targets as promised in the Paris Agreement. This would not only ensure healthy living but also would help fulfil the individual and collective responsibility in contributing to the reduction of the carbon footprint. Further, the rescaling of meat industry would lead to more sustainable patterns of livestock production which incorporates humane farming practices that would ensure the welfare of animals.

The recently ratified Nationally Determined Contributions of Sri Lanka (NDCs) include climate actions that focus on the sectors pertaining to livestock sector. This would also have impacts of co-benefit based actions as livestock industry would feature under adaptation as a sector mentioned within the NDCs, though it will also contribute to the reduction of emissions if focusing on reducing the scale of animal agriculture, and reduce the meat production. It is important that in the implementation of these NDCs, that the country adopts a humane approach, as all beings are impacted by climate change, not only humans.

Speaking at the Global Youth Forum on Climate Change, Bhagya Wickramasinghe, who works with SLYCAN Trust with animal welfare related issues, commented on SLYCAN Trusts’s new initiative- Meatless Monday- which advocates change of lifestyle towards the meatless/vegan option by recognizing the impact of meat on the health and environment through conscious eating habits. She mentioned that mindful eating, and meatless food consumption are important in fulfilling our individual contribution to mitigating climate change impacts.

As part of the Sri Lankan government’s agenda in addressing the issue of climate change, the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment of Sri Lanka recently organised the ‘Sri Lanka Next – A Blue Green Era’ Conference and Exhibition, and the 5th Asia- Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum, which took place from 17th – 19th October at Bandaranaike Memorial International Convention Hall. The forum focused on the theme of “adapting and living below 2*c: bridging gaps in policy and practice”. As a token of the significance of vegetarianism in mitigating climate change issues, the inauguration reception for Sri Lanka NEXT conference was held as a meatless dinner. The reception which was held on the eve of the 17th of October was attended by over 1000 international and local delegates participating in the APAN forum. The array of food which included many different types of cuisines, served as a tangible reminder of the alternative lifestyle options that are more environmentally friendly and sensitive to animal welfare. On the whole, the reception which marked the commencement of the Government’s official campaign in addressing climate change, reiterated an important message in highlighting the significance of meatless food consumption in fulfilling our individual and social responsibility towards creating a better environment.

 

Source : Colombo Telegraph https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sri-lanka-advocates-climate-change-mitigation-through-humane-lifestyle/

Land grabbers eye unprotected forests around Sinharaja

Protect these LRC forests immediately – environmental organisations urge president

(School children learn importance of protecting environment at BLUE – GREEN event)

Environment organisations fear  there is an ongoing attempt to grab forest lands in the vicinity of the Sinharaja forest by individuals and groups..

The scheme came to light when a group commenced surveying around 400 acres of the Delgoda Forest located near the Sinharaja Forest last week. The group claimed they possessed  deeds to the land.

The Sunday Times learned  the Forest Department’s Range Forest Office in Kalawana was able  to stop the activity as no proper documentation regarding land ownership was provided.

Sriyantha Perera of the ‘Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka’ said many fraudulent attempts are being made to grab forest land. In one instance an individual claiming rights to the forest land based on ‘Nindagam Oppu’ claimed to have been issued during the British colonial era in 1940.

According to this old ‘nindagam’ document  the individual claimed he owned an extent of 800 ‘vee kuraniya’ – an old unit of measure used to quantify amount of harvest. This roughly equivalent to 2000 acres according to Rainforest Protectors.

The reality however is that no individual can legally own over 50 acres of land.

Another ruse of the land grabbers is to peruse documents of the Land Registry in an effort to identify land  owners who may have died and those who have left the country, create fake documents and claim ownership. Perera added that with the advent of nature-based tourism, land value in the area had sky-rocketed and this was another reason behind the rush to grab land illicitly.

The Kalawana Divisional Secretary refused to comment on the issue when the Sunday Times contacted her. The Conservator General of Forest, Anura Sathurusinghe said that he also got to know about the attempts to grab forest lands adjacent to Sinharaja and the matter is under investigation.

Meanwhile, the ‘Rainforest Protectors’ has called on government to take over all forest lands adjacent to Sinharaja because the high value of its endemic biodiversity. They added these patches of forest also act as corridors linking the larger rainforest complex, and if destroyed, the already fragmented fragile ecosystem would be adversely affected.

The environmentalists said they recognised difficulties faced regarding forest lands claimed by private individuals. However they pointed out that forest lands belonging to the Land Reclamation Commission (LRC) are forests which can be immediately brought under the protected area network as the  LRC had agreed to transfer the lands to the Forest Department several years ago.

Unfortunately boundary demarcation disputes have slowed the process of transferring the said lands for protecting under the control of the Forest Department.

Forest Conservator General Mr. Sathurusinghe said these LRC lands were now being surveyed, but said that Forest Department has to wait until the survey Department finalised its demarcation.

Environmentalists point out that as there were attempts to grab forest lands in these areas with blessings of the local politicians, it was very important to expedite the process of protecting LRC forest lands.

“There have been instances where lands are grabbed overnight. Why can’t work to protect these forest  lands be expedited? especially when the Environment Minister is the President of the country who enjoys executive powers environmentalists ask.

Meanwhile the month of October is earmarked as ‘Tree Planting Month’ with the campaign spearheaded by the President Maithripala Sirisena himself.

As Environment Minister, the President also aims to increase Sri Lanka’s forest cover up to 32 percent from the current 29 percent.

Environmentalists are thus  urging the President to expedite the process of bringing these LRC lands under the protected area network to give them the much needed legal protection necessary to ensure their safety.

Sri Lanka NEXT – Blue Green Era

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the “Sri Lanka NEXT – Blue Green Era” policy initiative, held at the BMICH,  President Sirisena emphasised that should any individual or institution take action to upset the balance of the environment,  government would not hesitate to enforce the laws against the wrongdoers.

While welcoming these sentiments, environmentalists said action rather than words were necessary. They pointed out that approval had been given  for the implementation of environmentally harmful projects such as mini hydro power plants.

Activists who have a joint stall in the “Sri Lanka NEXT – Blue Green Era” exhibition, are using the opportunity educate people on how sensitive environments are being destroyed for a negligible amounst of power generated by mini hydro power projects.

The ‘Rainforest Protectors’ also handed over a letter President Sirisena emphasizing need to take timely action to ensure Ministry of Environment, Central Environmental Authority and Sustainable Energy Authority cease issuing permits for future mini hydro projects and urgently appoint a team to investigate issues connected  to existing mini-hydro projects.

The organisation accused unnamed government politicians of attempting to get permission to restart currently halted mini hydro projects which allegedly harm the environment.

Source : Sunday Times  http://www.sundaytimes.lk/161023/news/land-grabbers-eye-unprotected-forests-around-sinharaja-213439.html

Wiped out and it’s all our fault

Humans have wiped out so many animals that the planet is on the verge of the first ‘mass extinction’ since the age of the dinosaurs, conservationists have warned.

By the end of the decade, seven out of every ten of the world’s mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds will have been wiped out, according to the biggest ever report into extinction.

Some of the most threatened species include African elephants, tigers, mountain gorillas and giant pandas, said the report by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

Its grim findings were described as a wake-up call to help save Earth’s remaining animals – before it is too late.

The study assessed 14,152 populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles.

Numbers fell by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012 – and are dropping by around 2 per cent every year, with no sign of any slowdown.

By 2020, populations of vertebrate species could have fallen by 67 per cent over the 50-year period unless action is taken to reverse the damaging impacts of mankind, the Living Planet report found.

These include poaching, farming, over-fishing, deforestation, climate change, the ditching of waste plastic, chemical and air pollution – behaviours that are affecting humans too.

Mike Barrett, director of science and policy at WWF-UK, said: ‘For the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs … we face a global mass extinction of wildlife.

‘We ignore the decline of other species at our peril – for they are the barometer that reveals our impact on the world that sustains us.

‘Humanity’s misuse of natural resources is threatening habitats, pushing irreplaceable species to the brink and threatening the stability of our climate.’

But he added: ‘We know how to stop this. It requires governments, businesses and citizens to rethink how we produce, consume, measure success and value the natural environment.’

The African elephant population has fallen by 111,000 in the past decade, mainly down to poaching, with just 415,000 left.

Other animals are even more rare. There are now just 3,900 tigers in the world and 1,864 giant pandas.

Shockingly the numbers of one of the most at risk species, the Amur leopard, are down to just 70.

Overall, terrestrial species have seen populations drop by 38 per cent between 1970 and 2012. Freshwater species fared even worse, falling by 81 per cent.

For marine creatures – based on 6,170 populations of 1,353 species of fish, birds, mammals and reptiles – the report found a 36 per cent decline.

The worst years were between 1970 and 1980, however the decline has been stabilised thanks to efforts to stop overfishing.

On a positive note, animal species living in African grasslands have increased slightly since 2004, thanks to conservation efforts.

The report also highlights the success of habitat protection and strict hunting controls in Europe.

Professor Ken Norris, director of science at ZSL, said: ‘Human behaviour continues to drive the decline of wildlife populations globally, with particular impact on freshwater habitats.

‘However, these are declines – they are not yet extinctions – and this should be a wake-up call to marshal efforts to promote the recovery of these populations.’

 

Source : 26/10/2016 Daily Mirror http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Wiped-out-and-it-s-all-our-fault-118191.html

President launches ‘National polythene, plastic and electronic waste prevention week’

President Maithripala Sirisena launched a ‘National polythene, plastic and electronic waste prevention week’ from October 24 to 30 at a ceremony at the Central Environmental Authority at Battaramulla yesterday.

He also launched the website www.wmd.cea.lk containing information about polythene, plastics and electronic waste.

Representatives of the Kaduwela, Anuradhapura and Kandy Municipal Councils and the Balangoda Urban Council which are successfully operating polythene and plastic recycling projects received special certificates from the President who also symbolically distributed tractors, trailers, polythene baling machines and polythene grinding machines among council representatives.

The National Crafts Council, U.G. Susantha, Kodituwakku, Mrs. Geethanjalee, Mr. Prajashantha, Mrs. Senaviratne and Siyam City Cement Lanka Ltd received certificates of appreciation for disposing polythene and plastic waste collected during the National Week in an environment friendly manner and introducing environment friendly containers as a substitute for polythene and plastic containers.

Source : 21/10/2016 Dailly News http://www.dailynews.lk/2016/10/21/local/96634

Sri Lanka prioritizes sustainable development with a strict policy against environmental degradation

Sustainable development is a priority for the government and development projects will be implemented adhering to a strict policy against environmental degradation, Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena said.

President Sirisena said that not only Sri Lanka, but the whole world has to face the consequences of environmental pollution and further emphasized that the present government follows a very stern policy against the destruction of environment and depletion of natural resources.

Addressing a ceremony to launch “Sri Lanka NEXT – Blue Green Era” policy initiative, held at the BMICH, on Tuesday (18), the President emphasized that if any individual or institution take actions to harm the environment the Government will not hesitate to enforce the laws against the wrongdoers. He also said that as the Minister of Environment recently, he took strong decisions against several incidents of this type reported in various parts of the country.

The President said the state officials and the institutions responsible for the environmental conservation should act in a responsible manner, in this regard and said that he believed the relevant authorities will fulfill their respective responsibilities honorably by taking effective steps against the smugglers.

The year 2017 has been declared as a year of eradication of poverty in the country, the President said adding that all the initiatives in this regard will be implemented giving priority to the sustainable development, one of the main objectives of the Government.

“The Government has understood the importance of moving towards natural resources while resolving issues related to the energy field,” he added.

A series of programs for taking Sri Lanka towards a green era are being carried out from Oct. 17-19 at the BMICH. The Asia Pacific Conference on climate change simulations commenced yesterday with the participation of 500 foreign scientists.

International Research Seminar, film exhibition on environment, exhibition on environmental creations and productions, specialists’ dialog and a global youth society on climate change were held in parallel to this summit. Over 80 Presidential Awards were presented at the main ceremony held today.

The UN Resident Coordinator Una McCauley officially presented the Green Climate Fund’s assistance of USD 38.18 million to support dry zone communities to adapt to climate change to the President at the occasion.

The first copy of the publication on climate change, prepared by the Climate Change Secretariat of the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment was presented to the President.

Source : Colombo Page  http://www.colombopage.com/archive_16B/Oct18_1476800804CH.php

 

Sri Lanka strives to fight climate change

Sri Lanka, one of the countries hardest-hit by climate change, said on Wednesday it will prepare its third national communication report on the matter while implementing integrated solutions to environment issues.

Sri Lanka ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1993. Under the Convention, UN member states should provide a communication report consisting of information on climate change and Sri Lanka had presented its second report in 2012.

President Maithripala Sirisena, in his capacity as the Minister of Environment has now obtained cabinet approval to implement the project for preparing the third communication report with assistance of the Global Environment Facility of the United Nations Development Programme.

Sri Lanka is taking measures to address environment issues in the country and the UN office in Colombo announced this week the commencement of a new USD 38.1 million project under the Green Climate Fund.

The country is to implement integrated solutions to water management which will achieve higher levels of food, livelihood and water security for communities in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka.

Green Climate Fund resources will therefore be invested in improving the community irrigation water infrastructure and associated agricultural practices, scaling-up decentralized drinking water systems and strengthening Early Warning, forecasting and water management systems to enhance the livelihood and resilience of smallholder farmers, particularly women, from climate related impacts.

The UNDP will work with a number of government institutions to support the government of Sri Lanka to deliver this project, which will be implemented from 2017 to 2024.

 

Source ;Oct. 19,2016  (Xinhua) :http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-10/19/c_135766819.htm

Hazardous Badulla smog still hugs town

(Attempts to douse the emanating fumes. Pix by Palitha Ariyawansha)

Days after a blaze broke out in five acres of trash mounds in Badulla, the smoke billowing from the conflagration continues to be a health hazard with authorities shutting down eight schools and hospitals and government dispensaries witnessing a rise in the number of patients.

Garbage dumped here is often mixed waste, including paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans and at times electronic goods together with decomposable wastes from food, dead animals, construction debris and even industrial waste.

The thick smog from the garbage dump has spread across Badulla town.

At the Badulla Base Hospital alone about 30 people have been treated for smoke inhalation. A hospital official said because plastics and polythene had been incinerated in the fire, gases such as methane and other hydrocarbons are being released and that carcinogenic dioxins could also be released. He said that because Badulla lies in a basin it is taking a long time for the smoke to dissipate.

“If you have symptoms such as breathing difficulties, throat pain, eye irritation visit doctor immediately, do not treat yourselves at home,” the official said.

The Badulla Urban Council has urged residents to refrain from inhaling the smoke that is spewing out of the garbage dump. The garbage dump spread over five acres had dried up and caught fire.

The amount of garbage burned in remote villages and crowded megacities is rising as more people worldwide are consuming more goods.

“Air pollution across much of the globe is significantly underestimated because no one is tracking open-fire burning of trash,” Senior Lecturer at the Open University of Sri Lanka, R.W. Sumathipala said.

The pollutants from trash fires are all toxic to humans depending on their concentration, he said.

The Uva Provincial Department of Education has ordered the temporary closure of eight schools – Badulla Dharmadutha College, Uva Maha Vidyalaya, Viharamaha devi Girls’ School, Badulla Central College, Visakha Girls School, Sujatha Girls School, Al Adam College and Al Isman Primary School in Badulla until next week.

UDA considers waste-to-energy options as WP garbage mountains rise

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has received eight proposals for the project “Waste-to-Energy” (WTE) and two proposals will be selected for the Karadiyana and Meethotamulla garbage dump site, a senior UDA official said.

Garbage collection and disposal has become a critical service in the country, especially in the Western Province where more than 1,000 tons of garbage collects every day. Mountains of garbage landfill in major cities such as Colombo, Kandy and Ratnapura are causing major environmental and health problems in the surrounding community.

“There is insufficient capital investment to carry out an effective waste management strategy”, said UDA Chairman Dr. Jagath Munasinghe.

He said the proposals received for dealing with waste at the Karadiyana and Meethotamulla dumps would be evaluated by a committee of university professors, ministers, solid waste sector committees and other experts.

Once selected, the projects should be initiated at once and be completed within two years, he said.

Experts point to a reluctance in creating and implementing laws and the lack of political commitment at all levels of government in dealing with garbage disposal, as well as an absence of accountability in service delivery and poor technical know-how.

Waste generation is increasing by 1-2 per cent per day and it is predicted that by 2050 waste generation in the Western Province will increase to up to 5,800 metric tonnes a day.

“This is the biggest challenge we have to face in the years to come and we are in the process of facing this challenge effectively by introducing short-term, medium-term and long-term programmes for waste management in the Western Province,” Dr. Munasinghe said.

By 2018, Western Province administrators hope to be turning at least 500 metric tonnes per day of perishable garbage into compost.

“Composting is the best way of using Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) as a resource as 30 per cent of the garbage collected by local government bodies in Sri Lanka consists of short term biodegradable waste which can be easily converted into compost,” an official said.

He pointed out that there was a “huge advantage” in having a composting facility at Karadiyana because that dumping site receives around 500 metric tonnes of MSW a day.

It is learned that a private company has approached the UDA over using garbage waste to power two biogas power plants in Sri Lanka using up waste from animal and vegetable byproducts, household bio-waste, organic waste, sludge, industrial and commercial waste. A spokesman said with the planned 20MW plants in use only 4 per cent of the original municipal waste would be classified as hazardous ash

Source :19/10/2016 Sunday Times  http://www.sundaytimes.lk/161016/news/hazardous-badulla-smog-still-hugs-town-212729.html

Valuation of Forest Ecosystems and Their Services

Forest biodiversity and ecosystems provide a broad array of both tangible and intangible services and goods. They include the most obvious ones like the food we eat (mushrooms and wild fruits like Divul, Hal, Himbutu), fresh water we drink and clean air we breathe, essentially the primary life-support systems. Then we obtain plant materials such as fire-wood, medicinals (Weni wel, Kothala himbutu etc.) and aromatics (Walla patta of recent fame) and other forest raw materials for our domestic consumption and industries. Though less obvious, forests and other such green spaces sustain processes that purify air and water, breakdown waste products, sequester carbon, cycle nutrients and maintain soil fertility, all of which we take for granted and hardly pay any attention to their sustainability.

Forest biodiversity and ecosystems provide a broad array of both tangible and intangible services and goods. They include the most obvious ones like the food we eat (mushrooms and wild fruits like Divul, Hal, Himbutu), fresh water we drink and clean air we breathe, essentially the primary life-support systems. Then we obtain plant materials such as fire-wood, medicinals (Weni wel, Kothala himbutu etc.) and aromatics (Walla patta of recent fame) and other forest raw materials for our domestic consumption and industries. Though less obvious, forests and other such green spaces sustain processes that purify air and water, breakdown waste products, sequester carbon, cycle nutrients and maintain soil fertility, all of which we take for granted and hardly pay any attention to their sustainability.

Ecosystem services therefore, are the benefits provided by various ecosystems to human well-being which in common parlance is known as ‘health, wealth and happiness’. These are often bundled together as provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report prepared in 2005. However, there are other ecosystem values which have no known benefit to humans as yet, but are of intrinsic value to the web of life on earth.

In addition, forests also perform regulatory functions such as flood control, climate amelioration, air and water quality regulation, pest and disease control and supporting services such as pollination, seed dispersal, nutrient cycling and primary production of foods mostly by fixing carbon dioxide that is available in the atmosphere. Likewise, they also provide invaluable cultural services such as spiritual, aesthetic, recreational and educational values for the wholesome well-being of humans and all other living organisms. Yet today, all these life-sustaining systems, collectively known as ecosystem services, provided by forests and other such landscapes are largely taken for granted and perceived as public benefits or ‘free lunches’ in modern society’s balance sheet. Despite being fundamental to the well-being of human societies, critical contribution of ecosystem services have hitherto been overlooked in public, corporate and individual decision making processes, primarily because they are public services rendered by Mother Nature free of charge.

The concept of ecosystem services gained world-wide recognition when the United Nations published its Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report in 2005 (MEA). It was prepared collectively by 1,300 scientists of global repute spending over a period of four years, primarily to draw the attention of the policy makers to the rapid decline in biodiversity and their functioning, leading to a global level impact on ecosystem services they render that are vital to human well-being, their livelihoods, health and very survival.

As a sequel to this global effort, a second international initiative was undertaken by the UN Environmental Programme between 2007 and 2010 called ‘The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity’ (TEEB synthesis report, 2010) bringing ecosystem services, which had hitherto been in the exclusive domain of the ecological community, to the doorstep of the business world. At the same time it was heralded by mainstream mass media as a possible link to be explored between biodiversity and socioeconomic domains.

Making nature’s values more visible

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is a global initiative focused on “making nature’s values more visible” in decision making. Its principal objective is to mainstream the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making at all levels from local to global. It aims to achieve this goal by following a structured or tiered approach to valuation that helps decision-makers recognise the wide range of benefits provided by ecosystems and biodiversity, demonstrate their values in economic terms and where appropriate, capture those values in decision-making.

The first step in this process is ‘Recognising’ the value in ecosystems, landscapes, species and other aspects of biodiversity which has been a feature of all human societies and communities at varying scales over a millennia. Setting aside protected areas, national parks and wilderness areas for provisioning aforesaid ecosystem services are good examples of giving due recognition to such valuable ecosystems, landscapes, riverscapes and seascapes. Sometimes, this level of recognition alone has been sufficient for ensuring conservation and sustainable management. However, both global and local trends are that this current level of recognition of ecosystem services rendered by natural ecosystems and landscapes including forests is woefully inadequate to stem the conversion of natural ecosystems in to other land uses ostensibly considered as more valuable to human well-being.

The second principle of TEEB approach is ‘Demonstrating’ ecosystem service value which has hitherto been the invisible value of nature in economic terms. An economic value is often useful for policy makers and businesses, in reaching decisions that consider the full (market and non-market) costs and benefits of a proposed use of an ecosystem.

Capturing value is the final tier of the economic approach, which involves the introduction of mechanisms that incorporate the values of ecosystems as demonstrated in economic terms in to decision making through incentives and price signals.

In moving towards valuation of natural biological assets which are the biodiversity and their ecosystem services, the concept of ‘natural capital’ – the constituents of nature – has been introduced to be on par with other types of capitals such as human capital (education, work skills, mental & physical health) and social capital (social cohesive networks) and manufactured capital (infrastructure, buildings, machines) in socio-economic parlance. The concept of ‘natural-capital’ refers to those constituents of nature that can be linked directly with human welfare. This includes all natural assets such as minerals, water, air, living organisms, ecosystems and their functioning. This natural capital need to be maintained at a level so that it can deliver its ‘interest’ in the form of ecological services for human well-being in a sustainable manner in to the distant future.

This widespread recognition of ecosystem services has contributed significantly to redefining hitherto invisible values of nature which had been taken for granted in relation to human interactions with them at different scales from shifting cultivation to large scale cash-crop plantations. The widespread neglect of the natural capital, leading to degradation of ecosystem services and biodiversity has now reached serious levels of social and economic costs. The ‘business as usual’ approach will only lead to further aggravation of environmental and socio-economic calamities at more frequent intervals.

Value of natural capital

Although the valuation of natural capital and its interest is implicit in decision making, it is often hidden from public view due to lack of comparable methods for valuation as for other capitals such as manufactured or built capital. This is often seen in instances where natural forests are alienated for large scale agricultural, industrial or infrastructure developmental ventures without taking a stock of the valuable ecosystem services rendered may be invisible to many, by the forested ecosystem. A classic example is the ‘Sinharaja logging project’ of the 1970s which was launched to meet the growing timber demand for making peeler-wood chests for packaging tea for export and hardwoods for domestic use. At that time, the overriding value of provisioning timber was considered as the primary good as opposed to other bundles competing ecosystem service values such as conservation of biodiversity, regulation of soil and water, aesthetic, educational and recreational value etc. which were not considered adequately as the economic values of the latter services were hidden from policy makers due to lack of comparable methods for their valuation. However, today the tables have turned in Sinharaja, where regulatory service values and cultural values are in the forefront in both economic and ecological estimations even without a proper demonstration of its economic value. This could be attributed primarily to public awareness of the ecosystem service values of Sinharaja forest.

This novel way of looking at nature as the ‘natural capital’ which so freely offer its interest in the form of goods and services, is expected to play a key role in building a sustainable and durable future for humanity. Evaluating and communicating economic values using a monetary metric can draw the attention of policy makers and also lay people, about the magnitude of these services relative to others provided by human-built capital (conversion of a forest to urban development or to agricultural expansion). Improved transparency about valuation of ecosystem services in order to make nature more visible, (while recognizing the uncertainties and limitations of methodologies) can only help to make more informed decisions.

Most natural capital assets such as clean air, clean water, soils, biological diversity etc. are not traded in the market place at present and as such, non-market valuation methods have to be used for assigning monetary values to them. However, this becomes even more difficult when dealing with more complex services such as regulating, supporting or cultural services. Provision of water for consumption and agriculture from natural springs in forested watersheds has been revered and protected by indigenous cultures of many civilizations. The current ‘business as usual’ approach of converting forests and other ecosystems for cash-crop agriculture in our central highlands will only lead to further aggravation of environmental and socio-economic calamities in the future at more frequent intervals than experienced at present.

Although the valuation of natural capital and its interest is implicit in decision making, it is often hidden from public view due to lack of comparable methods for valuation as for other capitals such as manufactured or built capital. This is often seen in instances where natural forests are alienated for large scale agricultural or infrastructure developmental ventures without taking a stock of the valuable ecosystem services rendered may be invisibly to many, by the forested ecosystem.

Most ecosystem services such as climate regulation, clean water and clean air are common pool ‘public resource’ services and conventional market strategies could not be applied for their valuation. Nonetheless, awareness of the value of ecosystem services be it cultural, supporting or regulatory, is indeed helpful for their efficient management. In such instances, introduction of economic incentives such as a payment for maintaining these services can bring about desired outcomes. A number of successful case studies of payments for ecosystem services are now available in many countries.

‘Commodification’ of nature

This utilitarian concept of valuation of nature is viewed by some critiques as ‘commodification’ of nature. However, proponents of the ecosystem valuation concept stress the fact that expressing the value of ecosystem services in monetary units does not mean that they should be treated as private commodities that should always be traded in private markets. Many ecosystem services are public goods or the product of common assets that cannot (and should not) be privatised. As an example, services rendered by mangrove ecosystems are common assets that should not be privatised. Their value in monetary terms is an estimate of their benefits to society expressed in units that communicate to a wider audience.This in turn could assist in raising awareness of the value of ecosystem services to society. It will then serve as a powerful and essential communication tool to inform better, more balanced decisions regarding trade-offs with policies that enhance GDP but damage ecosystem services, the cost of which is often conveniently externalized by the developer.

Taking all these recent developments in valuation of forest ecosystems and their services to consideration, the UN-REDD Programme in Sri Lanka together with the Forest Department of Sri Lanka is organizing an international research symposium on ‘Valuation of Forest Ecosystems and their Services’ on October 18, 2016 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall as an integral part of ‘Sri Lanka Next Blue-Green Era Convention and Exhibition which was held from October 17-19 (see the web site – http://reddpluslk.com/Research_Symposium2/programme-agenda/).

 

This research symposium intends to bring together an impressive range of presentations by both Sri Lankan and International researchers on recognising, demonstrating and capturing ecosystem service values in line with The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity methodology. This we hope would pave the way for developing a suitable mechanism to make Sri Lanka’s nature and its ecological services more visible in economic terms when making policy decisions impacting forest ecosystems.

Source :19/10/2016 ; Daily News  http://epaper.dailynews.lk/?id=10&tday=2016/10/19

Should we put a “price-tag” on nature?: Shifting from values to value

Would we care more if there was a price attached to it? Conventional logic dictates that people assign more value to things when they need to pay for it. And it is this very logic that scientists and the government now plan to use this to save our dwindling forest resources.

On October 18, the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, together with the Sri Lanak UN-REDD Programme and Forest Department, will for the first time in Sri Lanka organise the ‘International Research Symposium on Valuation of Forest Ecosystems’ to understand the concept of such a model and to come up with a set of policies the government can later adopt.

The symposium to be held at BMICH, is part of the Sri Lanka NEXT: ‘A Blue-Green Era’ Conference and Exhibition.

Our ‘free lunch’

According to a World Bank Survey of forests done in 2011, Sri Lanka lost an average of 26,800 hectares of forests per year between 1990 and 2000. These losses were silent, unnoticed and un-valued.

This matters, as University of Peradeniya Emeritus Professor Nimal Gunatilleke in his research pointed out, “Global forests as a whole are estimated to contribute around US$ 468 billion or 1 percent to the World’s GDP.” The question now is how much does it contribute to our own GDP?

Our lack of knowledge on the subject is explained by Prof. Gunatilleke as the concept of a ‘free lunch’. “People having been benefiting from our forests without paying for it,” he said, addressing a media briefing last week at the Department of Forests.

“Indigenous people valued forests and certain forests were protected in ancient times. They might not have had a monetary value to it but they knew of its importance. But today we do not value it as much, given the pressures of development,” further explained Prof. Gunatilleke.

Hence to move away from the ‘free lunch’ mentality, it was important to understand that forests are not only biodiversity hotspots but they also provide us with important support services that are needed, for the very functioning of our civilization.

Forests perform the four main functions of: “Supply of provisions (goods like timber, food, etc..), act as Regulators (help in stopping flash floods, soil erosion, etc..), Supporting services (pollination, recycling of nutrients, etc..) and Cultural (aesthetic, historic, etc..),” said Prof. Gunatilleke.

The destruction of our forest ecosystems are thus closely interconnected to our own food chain and well-being. Much of our agricultural and other food produce is pollinated by bees and if the bees along with our ecosystems were to disappear, research shows that humans as a species would disappear in a matter of four years!

In Sri Lanka, the Conservator General of Forests, Anura Sathurusinghe explained that this year alone, approximately 4,300 acres of forests were destroyed by forest fires, “Three occurred in forest plantations and thus we had a method to add some value to it but the environmental value, the number of animals killed, erosion and loss of other services have not been incorporated into our losses, as we don’t have a proper method to calculate it,” he said.

Why a forest is more valuable than a golf course?

Apart from forest fires, one of the biggest threats to forests comes from development and it is here that forest valuations can be used to fight off developers.

“If an area with forest ecosystems are to be used for development, in this new system, we would add a value to that forest they propose to destroy. It would then be similar to any cost incurred due to the project. Thus one can argue whether the forest is of higher value standing or cut down?” explained Prof Gunatilleke.

Saving money and forests courtesy biggerpicture

Civil Society Representative, Hemantha Withanage who also spoke at the briefing has been fighting the ‘Environmental Cause’ for many decades and he pointed out that arguments for conservation can become stronger when we have economics to back it up with.

“Private property has always been given a monetary value but this has not been applied in the same way for common property,” explained Withanage.

“Many conservation projects face the challenge of how worth the conserving of a particular area is compared to the development benefits of a project. For example, is it worth cutting down a forest to put up a golf course or a mini hydro project?” he asked.

According to Withanage, close to 143 waterfalls have been destroyed so far in Sri Lanka as conservationists were not armed with the knowledge of its many hidden benefits and monetary value. “People kept saying that this development project would bring in so much of money and jobs, compared to the natural resource which in itself was not making them money,” he added.

Prof. Gunatilleke added to it saying, “During the time of the British, Singharaja was being cut to make tea boxes. Luckily we stopped that and we have seen that we have got more out of having that forest around than it being cut down to make tea boxes.”

He also explained that Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) only looked at forests being impacted in terms of endemic and threatened species and did very little to capture its full worth in terms of services.

Not for sale

The valuation of forests however, have not been welcome in all quarters. Prof. Gunatilleke explained that many who oppose it point out that it would not only commercialise our environment but also a developer could offer to pay the total value accounted for a forest and thereafter continue his development.

The other argument put forward by critics is that relating value of a forest to its biodiversity could mean that areas with lower biodiversity are easily cut down. This would be especially apparent between dry zone and wet zone forests where the latter has a greater biodiversity than the former.

“Research done in 85 forests in Sri Lanka however, has shown that there is a direct correlation between biodiversity and forest services. So if we take into account forest services into our accounting system, we cannot say that biodiversity would be less impacted,” said Prof. Gunatilleke.

Cutting down forests

“There are also 10 forest services which have been identified as most important to protect biodiversity in a forest,” he added.

When it comes to deciding between dry zone and wet zone forests, former Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens Peradeniya, Dr. Siril Wijesundara explained that each forest regardless of the area they are situated, play an important role in regulating the ecosystem in the area and thus cannot be compared. “The services they offer are equally important,” said Dr. Wijesundara.

How do we add value?

The method of adding a dollar or rupee value to our forests however, is not that simple as there are many services which cannot be valued. For example, the sacredness of a forest is hard to define. Thus it is here that the Symposium seeks to shed light into the process by bringing in ‘The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB, 2010) methodology to the forefront.

TEEB is a global initiative focused on “making nature’s values visible”. Its principal objective is to mainstream the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making at all levels. It aims to achieve this goal by following a structured approach to valuation that helps decision-makers recognise the wide range of benefits provided by ecosystems and biodiversity, demonstrate their values in economic terms and, where appropriate, capture those values in decision-making.

To start off with, Prof. Gunatilleke explained that the Sri Lankan government would need to look into three main aspects; as quoted in his research:

“(1)Develop institutional arrangements to strengthen the implementation of natural capital accounting, (2)Develop science-based methodologies on an experimental basis for ecosystem accounting as a complement to GDP and (3) pilot and demonstrate the economic, social and environmental aspects of scaled up and integrated approaches to natural capital accounting.”

The panel at the briefing admitted that these models would take many years to implement in Sri Lanka and that the Symposium was a first step towards it.

Withanage meanwhile noted that any valuation methodology should also be adopted into legislation and government policy with laws amended for it be fully implemented.

“Adopting it to the legal and political decision making process however, may take years,” he said.

Implementation of various laws and regulations remain the biggest challenge facing many environmental government agencies and thus the practicality and usefulness of this accounting system would depend on how proactive our government agencies are.

“When the Coke factory polluted the Kelaniya River with an oil spill, they only had to pay for new water filters. No one took into account the damage they caused to our environment, our river and drinking water supply. If we have a system to account for all that, they would have had to pay much more and thus would be more careful in future,” said Withanage, adding that “We need bargaining power, at a time when development has been given top priority.”

Source: Daily News http://dailynews.lk/2016/10/14/features/95874